There is still some surprise that Chelsea seem determined to re-sign defender Nathan Ake five years after he was sold to Bournemouth and deemed not good enough. For a player who has struggled to become anything more than a rotational option for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the defensive reinforcements Thomas Tuchel needs were suspected to be of a higher calibre.
Ake is a competent and experienced Premier League defender but probably little more, particularly with the Blues looking to replace the hole left by Antonio Rudiger who became a big presence for Tuchel in the final year of his contract.
Our colleagues at the Manchester Evening News are reporting that City will not allow Ake to leave the club unless they have a replacement lined up. Chelsea will need to pay at least £50million for City to even consider allowing Ake to leave. Chelsea have made a proposal to for Ake, a source has told football.london.
READ MORE: Pep Guardiola has already told Thomas Tuchel what Nathan Ake offers amid Chelsea transfer move
Even for less, it seemed like a deal without much excitement or logic, now it bears even little point should Chelsea have to break their transfer record for a defender on Ake. This gives Todd Boehly a decision to make. Why spend upwards of £50million on Ake, who played fewer than 20 Premier League games for City last term, when you could pay similarly for long-term target Jules Kounde?
Local reports out of Sevilla on Wednesday suggested that Chelsea were back in for Kounde after it seemed the long-held interest had cooled with Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt and Ake higher up on the wishlist. Though given the rebuild Chelsea desire this summer, Ake at 27 feels less of a valuable addition than Kounde, at 23, could offer in the long-term.
The same argument could be made for spending a large amount on de Ligt at 22, a player you would be committing significant funds to for the long-term. If Tuchel is purely looking at the short-term, the rumours of interest in Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly feel more logical - a dominant defender who one would hope could offer an instant impact in the Premier League. And what about Gleison Bremer? Also from Serie A, voted the league's best defender in 2021/22 and is set to leave Torino this window.
Chelsea need to spend on the current squad to improve the current defence but they need to do it wisely. Ake would feel more like a placeholder, targeted out of opportunity than long-term planning or care for the wider vision over how this squad could grow in the coming years.
What is the true value in spending £50million on Ake, when you've got an exciting academy graduate like Levi Colwill you could promote on the left-side of defence? Kounde would be improving the opposite side, able to play in a back-three, four or either fill in as a conventional right-back as he has for France recently in the UEFA Nations League.
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